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2007 Beatty Mid-Air Collision
Orbit Connection Flight 8320 was a regular charter flight from Bob Hope International Airport in Burbank, California, to Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada. On 5 May, 2007, the Bombardier CRJ700 collided in mid-air with Quantum Air Cargo Flight 23, a McDonnell Douglas MD-10 en route to Mexico City via Seattle. The collision killed all 49 people aboard both aircraft, making it the first fatal accident involving Quantum Air Cargo. The accident was also the first fatal accident for Orbit Connection. Investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the crash was caused mainly due to failure on behalf of the Quantum pilots to detect the Orbit aircraft, which was aggravated by crew fatigue associated with the monotony of long flight hours. Contributing to the accident was the DC-10's Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) being inoperable at the time of the collision. The pilots on board Flight 8320 acted professionally, therefore no blame was apportioned to these individuals Basic Details Date: 5 May, 2007 Survivors: 0 Fatalities 49 Site: In mid-air, near Beatty, Nevada, USA Conclusion: Mid-Air Collision Aircraft ''Orbit Connection Flight 8320 '''Date:' 5 May, 2007''' Operator: Orbit Connection Aircraft: Bombardier CRJ700 Registration: N2746O Passengers: 42 Crew: 5 Origin: Bob Hope International Airport, Burbank, California, USA Destination: Reno-Tahoe International Airport, Reno, Nevada, USA Survivors: 0 Fatalities: 47 (All) ''Quantum Air Cargo Flight 23 '''Date:' 5 May, 2007 Operator: Quantum Air Cargo Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas MD-10-30F Registration: N350QU Passengers: 0 Crew: 2 Origin: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington, USA Destination: Benito Juárez International Airport, Mexico City, Mexico Survivors: 0 Fatalities 2 Involved Aircraft First, the aircraft operating as Orbit Connection Flight 8320 was a 4-year-old Bombardier CRJ700 (Registration N2746O). The aircraft had its maiden flight on 14 April, 2003, with delivery to Orbit Connection occuring on 25 November, 2003. The airframe had acquired more than 6,200 flight hours. The flight crew on board Flight 8320 were 35-year-old Captain Ronald Freeman, 40-year-old First Officer Noah Jorgensen, and Flight Attendants Haley Innenger, Connie Schultz, and Andrew Slikk. Both pilots were experienced and had logged 10,638 flight hours and 7,069 flight hours, respectively. Next, the Quantum Air Cargo Flight 23 aircraft was a McDonnell Douglas MD-10-30F (Registration N350QU). The aircraft had its maiden flight on July 12, 1973, and was delivered to Pacifica Airlines on 27 September, 1973. It flew for Pacifica until 1988, when Pacifica retired its DC-10 fleet and sold its aircraft to Quantum Airlines. The plane was converted to a freighter in 1990 and sold to Quantum Air Cargo in 1991. In 2003, the airframe was fitted with a glass cockpit and, thus, converted to an MD-10. Since 1973, the aircraft has acquired over 95,800 flight hours. The pilots on board Flight 23 were 47-year-old Captain Cesar Alejandro, who had acquired 24,920 flight hours, and 42-year-old First Officer Anthony Gerard, who had acquired 19,385 flight hours. Captain Alejandro, formerly a flight attendant for Mexican carrier Sprint Airways, had moved to the United States from his hometown of Tijuana, where he earned his commercial pilot's license in 2002. He underwent training at the Quantum Airlines pilot training facility in Cleveland, Ohio, before being admitted as a Quantum captain in 2004. Flights and Collision On Saturday, May 5, 2007, at 6:27 PM Pacific Daylight Time, Quantum Air Cargo Flight 23 departed Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Seattle, Washington, bound for Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City, Mexico. The flight was the 4th scheduled roundtrip flight of the day. Later that evening, at 7:57 PM, Orbit Connection Flight 8320 with 47 passengers and crew aboard, departed Bob Hope International Airport in Burbank, California, bound for Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada. At about this time, Flight 23 was flying over Oregon, nearing Nevada. With Flight 8320 flying 014 degrees north at about 451 mph (725 km/h or 392 knots), and Flight 23 flying 239 degrees southeast at about 490 mph (789 km/h or 426 knots), both planes were placed on an almost head-on collision course. At 8:34 PM, cruising at FL310 (31,000 ft.), Flight 8320 was crossing into Nevada near Las Vegas. In the meantime, Flight 23, cruising at FL330 (33,000 ft.), was flying over the small town of Tonopah, NV. At 8:37, Flight 23 requested to ATC a decrease in altitude to FL300 (30,000 ft.) ATC gave the flight clearence to descend to 30,000 feet. At 8:40 PM, both flights were about 4 nautical miles from each other, with Flight 8320 still cruising at FL310 and Flight 23 at FL324 (32,400 ft.), still descending, at roughly 952 feet per minute, to FL300. At about 8:42 PM, ATC notified the MD-10 pilots about Flight 8320 and instructed them to report the CRJ700 in sight. Two seconds after, Flight 8320's pilots were notified about Flight 23 and were also instructed to report that aircraft in sight. However, after 5 seconds and 12 seconds, respectively, both flight crews reported that they could not maintain visual contact with each other. By now, both planes were about 3 minutes from collision. Finally, at 8:43 PM, the pilots of Flight 23 noticed the lights of Flight 8320. However, they did not immediately recognize the lights as an aircraft, dismissing them as lights coming from cars travelling on Highway 95 below them. At the same time, the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) in the CRJ700 alerted its pilots of a potential collision and instructed the pilots to descend, which they promptly acknowledged. But by this time their reaction was too late; Flight 23 was only seconds from colliding with Flight 8320. The collision took place at about 8:45:23 PM Pacific Daylight Time, near the small town of Beatty. The port-side wing of Flight 23 sliced through the rear fuselage and tail of Flight 8320, shearing off about 89% of the CRJ700's vertical stabilizer. The collision also sheared off the MD-10's #1 engine, which in turn ignited into a fireball. 12 seconds after collision, Flight 23 began to spiral out of control and plummeted at about 9500 feet per minute with fire trailing from the left wing. At about 16,600 feet, the plane began breaking up in mid-air. At 8:47, the remaining bulk of the MD-10 slammed into the ground about 3 miles from the collision point, igniting into a raging inferno upon impact and instantly killing the 2 pilots. Meanwhile, Flight 8320 continued flying tailless for about 22 more seconds before pitching up sharply, spiraling wildly, and falling at 12,000 feet per minute. At 8:48, the CRJ700 crashed into the ground and exploded into a fireball about 2.4 miles from the collision site. All 47 passengers and crew aboard perished instantly. Recovery and Investigation Firefighters were called out to assist in firefighting operations following the crash of each aircraft. Because of each planes' close proximity to Highway 95, fire personnel were able to respond quickly. It took firefighters an hour and a half to contain each blaze. Both aircraft were completely destroyed with no large pieces of wreckage remaining. By morning, it was clear that nobody had survived each crash. On 9 May, The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sent a team of investigators to the desert near Beatty. The main priority of the recovery was to find each aircraft's Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR). Flight 23's CVR and FDR were recovered right away, on 10 May, and Flight 8320's were recovered 11 May. The CVRs from both aircraft were sent to Washington DC for analysis. When listening to the CVR from Flight 23, investigators found several factors that could have contributed to the collision. According to the CVR from Flight 23, long before collision, the pilots were having a leisurley conversation on the flight deck. When listening to the voices of the flight crew, investigators could tell that the pilots were tired and stressed. Also, about 1 minute before collision, the MD-10's TCAS had failed to sound. These factors all played a huge role in the collision. Based on evidence that the pilots were tired while flying, NTSB officials determined one cause to be stress fatigue. When questioned about these findings, Quantum Airlines stated that some of their pilots, "...have a tendency to become sleepy in the air every so often." Quantum also stated that they operate several medium and long-haul routes a day, with most of them being roundtrip. Several pilots who have operated these routes have complained about stress fatigue while flying between destinations. Their reasons behind this have been about boredom associated with the long flight hours as well as inadequate sleep time in between flights. NTSB investigators considered these complaints to play a major role in determining how stress fatigue in pilots can lead to disasters like this. Finally, when asked about the use of TCAS in their MD-10 aircraft, the airline stated that the TCAS in these aircraft have had to undergo frequent service and repairs due to the systems malfunctioning. Quantum also stated that because of the low rate of accidents caused by mid-air collisions, they actually left 3 of their MD-10s without a TCAS system. Based on all this evidence, the NTSB was able to determine that the crash was associated with stress fatigue on behalf of the Quantum pilots, which was further hampered by the failure of the Quantum plane's TCAS to alert the pilots of a collision. What follows is the CVR transcript from Flight 23 before impact. CP is the captain, FO is the first officer. Text in italics is ATC communication Flight 23 CVR Transcript FO: Man I sure can't wait to retire in a few more months. CP: I'm sure you can't wait. What do you think you're gonna do when you quit your job? FO: Oh, I dunno. Maybe take a little vacay to Puerto Rico and have myself a few dozen margaritas. CP: Really? Well make sure to take me with you then! *Laughter from both pilots* ATC: Quantum 23, traffic at 1 o' clock, 4 miles, FL310, Bombardier CRJ700, report in sight. FO: You see that plane anywhere, Cesar? CP: Nah. I can't really see stuff great when it's this dark. CP: We do not have the traffic in sight, Quantum 23. *20 seconds pass* FO: Hey, I see some lights over there. You think that's the plane? CP: Eh, I don't think so. I think those are just some cars down there. *12 seconds pass* ATC: Quantum 23, traffic right ahead of you, 12 o' clock, less than 1 mile, FL310, Bombardier CRJ700. FO: Quantum 23, we have the traffic! CP: Oh man, that's the plane all right! FO: Holy crap, we're headed straight toward them! CP: We're gonna crash into them! *Sound of collision* CP: Ahhh! We've crashed into them! What will we do?! FO: We're gonna go down! *Sounds of various system warning horns in the background, including the engine warning and overspeed warning* FO: This is it! We're gonna die! CP: Well, it was great flying with you, old pal! *Sounds of aircraft pieces breaking off outside* *Screams of pilots in the cockpit* *End of recording* Aftermath Based on their investigation, on 13 February, 2008, the NTSB published their official accident report. In July 2008, the NTSB released a series of recommendations, stating that all aircraft be equipped with an adequate-functioning TCAS system and that airlines allow their pilots necessary rest time in between long flights. In 2009, Quantum Airlines agreed to pay $1.7 million compensation to families of the Orbit crash victims. As of March 2008, Orbit no longer uses the flight designation 8320 for Burbank-Reno routes. The flight number has been changed to 4705 and is now flown by the Embraer E195. However, the flight number 8320 operated by a Bombardier CRJ700 was brought back for 5 May, 2013, as payment of respect to the crash victims. A memorial honoring the victims of both aircraft was established in Beatty on 12 May, 2015. Category:Orbit Airlines Accidents and Incidents